This article examines the historical prose published by the Chilean writer Daniel Riquelme between 1893 and 1911 in different media. We propose that the national narrative delineated by this historical account departs significantly from the dominant version of Chilean History, assuming forms, attitudes and values that eventually stress and reverse its meaning. In order to evaluate the validity of this hypothesis, we study the distance that Riquelme's account establishes with respect to its literary-cultural references -national historiography and novel- examining its rhetorical procedures and the effects / affections of Reading that characterize this prose. Finally, we suggest an explanation to relate these textual particularities with the change in the social perception of the time, from a foundational moment to one of integration, and with the social and cultural impact that the Civil War of 1891 had in this context.